Meeting of the IEA Council 17th IEA World Congress June 6, 2014 Dead Sea, Jordan

Transcription

1 Meeting of the IEA Council 17th IEA World Congress June 6, 2014 Dead Sea, Jordan Participants President: President elect: Vice President: Secretary General: Members of the Council: Australia Brazil Cyprus Finland India Italy Ireland Latvia Lithuania Poland Russia Spain Switzerland Tunisia Turkey Uruguay USA Joseph Stiglitz Andreu Mas-Colell Tim Besley Omar Licandro Bruce Chapman Fernando Ferrari Sofronis Clerides Mikaela Carlström Deepti Taneja Neri Salvadori Carol Newman Ojars Kehris Algirdas Miskinis Stanislaw Rudolf Victor Polterovich Jose María Casado Raigón Philippe Bacchetta Mustapha Nabli Ercan Uygur Alvaro Forteza Jan Svejnar Invited participant: Wendy Carlin Excused: Argentina Colombia Osvaldo Meloni Leopoldo Fergusson

2 Agenda 1. Financial report & memorandum of activities and publications ( ) World Congress 3. Membership: 3.1. Actual situation and changes from Beijing 3.2. New full member fees 4. New EC members voting 5. RIDGE & CREED 6. Publications: Palgrave-Macmillan 7. Open discussion: World Congress Venue 7.2. Strengthen the representativeness of the IEA (with almost all countries represented) 7.3. New forms of membership 7.4. New activities: Curriculum initiative (Wendy Carlin) 7.5. Suggestions from the Assembly

3 Minutes of the Council Meeting The President opened the meeting with a cordial welcome to all present. He then turned to the Agenda. 1. Financial report & memorandum of activities and publications ( ) Financial report The President presented the financial report (see attached). The President reported that the financial condition of the IEA was markedly improved from the situation three years ago, and is now on sound footing, thanks to the contributions of the Hong Kong and Macau Monetary authorities. The impending sale of the IEA apartment in Paris will result in a cash position of approximately Efforts at bringing National Associations up to date in dues payments were partially successful and also contributed to the improvement in the Association s financial position. The President asked the council members to convince their Central Banks to contribute to the IEA similarly as the MA of Hong Kong and Macao. Roundtables The President reported on the significantly increased number of roundtables over the past three years and that there are several roundtables currently in the planning stage. (See attached report) The President asked the council members to suggest topics and sources of financial support for future IEA Roundtables. The IEA will collaborate with the promoter on looking for possible sources of financing. The President asked the Council members to promote in their corresponding regions that other national, regional and topical associations become IEA members World Congress The President briefly informed about the development of the Jordan World Congress. (See attached). 3. Membership 3.1. Actual situation and changes from Beijing The President informed about the efforts undertaken since the Beijing World Congress to improve membership and the need of rationalizing the IEA fees structure. Since the last meeting, the following new members have been joined the IEA: Sociedad de Economistas de Bolivia (SEBOL) (2012) Academia Colombiana de Ciencias Económicas (2013)

4 Association Marocaine de Sciences Economiques (2013) Economic Association of Malawi (2013) Economists Association Latvia (2013) Pakistan Society of Development Economists (2013) Serbian Association of Economists (2013) Swedish Economic Association (2013) and the following associate members have joined: Asociación Libre de Economía (2013) International Health Economics Association (2013) East Asian Economic Association (2013) Union of Economists of Turkmenistan (2014) Cyprus Turkish Economic Association (2014) 3.2. New full member fees The Council endorse the view that the main aim of the IEA is to have a global representation. In any case fees may be an impediment for a country to be or become member of the IEA. The President and the Secretary General will work on increasing the number of associations. It was raised the concern of the fairness of the UNESCO rule, in particular, because the rule include low-income large countries as India within the high fee groups. Indian representative will make a new proposal. 4. New EC members voting The President asked the Assembly to vote on the new EC members. They were all appointed by unanimity. (Besley left the room) The President explained that Prof. Mas-Colell resigned as President Elect due to the fact that his commitments to serving in Catalan government precluded his being able to devote the necessary time to the Presidency and that the EC suggested that the Vice President, Prof. Besley, be appointed as President. A unanimous vote approved the proposition. (Besley returned) The President, following the agreement of the EC, suggested to the Assembly that Prof Basu, just appointed as Vice President, were asked to become President Elect. He also explained the procedure for the election of an officer. Stiglitz and Besley will first ask Prof Basu if he would be willing to become President Elect, and then the election procedure will be followed after the Jordan Congress. 5. RIDGE & CREED The Secretary General briefly informed about RIDGE and CREED (see attached).

5 6. Publications: Palgrave-Macmillan The President informed the Council about the current situation of the relation between the IEA and Palgrave-Macmillan (see attached) 7. Open discussion World Congress Venue The Secretary General informed the Council about the possibility that the 2017 World Congress by organized jointly with the LACEA/LAMES 2017 annual meeting. There have been preliminary contacts with Eduardo Lora (LACEA s President) and Juan Pablo Nicolini (Chair of the LA branch of the Econometric Society) and they were very positive about this initiative. The Indian representative enthusiastically proposed to organize it in India. The Indian Economic Association had already shown its interest last year, but they could not present a formal bid due to the political uncertainty. This proposal was enthusiastic supported by the other council members and the Indian Economic Association was asked to make a proposal in the following months to the Executive Committee. It was suggested that the Association starts thinking on the 2020 World Congress venue. It was also suggested to pursue negotiations with LACEA in this direction. The President asked member associations to organize sessions during the following World Congresses, stressing issues that are important for the country, and promote the participation of young researchers coming from the respective country. It was suggested that some IEA Roundtables were organized as side events of the Congress, as was the case in Jordan Strengthen the representativeness of the IEA (with almost all countries represented) The President asks for help of the Council members to attract new full members and associate members New forms of membership This item was not discussed New activities: Curriculum initiative (Wendy Carlin) Wendy Carlin exposed the Curriculum Initiative promoted by COREECON. A discussion followed: It was suggested that the IEA promote IEA Roundtables on the teaching of economics. It will be a good opportunity to adopt the new curricula to different contexts.

6 It was also suggested that the IEA promote a World Students Competition. It will be a good opportunity to satisfy the student s demand of better ways of teaching economics Suggestions from the Assembly Poland. The President of the Polish Economic Society: Acknowledged the Secretary General, particularly Prof. Joan Esteban, and the IEA Secretariat (Pilar) for helping strengthening cooperation between the IEA and the PES. Suggested that the venue of future World Congresses be of a much easier access than Jordan, in particular to reduce travel costs. Informed about the Forum of the Presidents of Economic Societies in Central and Eastern European Countries to which the previous secretary general, Joan Esteban, participated. Distribute a bulletin of the PES. The IEA President asked the Polish representative for his help on convincing other national associations in the region to become members of the IEA. He also asked all council members to use the IEA webpage to announce their activities. India The Indian representative asked about the possibility that Palgrave- Macmillan translate some IEA publications to other languages. The Secretary General will ask Macmillan about. Brazil The representative of ANPEC (Brazil) invited the IEA to participate in their next Annual congress in Natal. Turkey The President of the Turkish EA pointed out that Jordan is not represented in the Association. The President informed that the IEA will work hard to try to attract as much members as possible. He also pointed out that one of the new members of the EC is German when Germany is not represented in the IEA. The President explained that the objective was to facilitate the return of Germany to the IEA. He finally pointed out that the TEA is highly interested on INET activities. The President of the TEA thanks Joan Esteban for his support to the TEA. Italia The representative of the Società Italiana degli Economisti suggested that the IEA includes in its webpage access to historical archives in line with the webpage of the SIE. The President and the Secretary General will study the possibility of creating a committee led by the SIE representative to carry out this initiative.

7 Other suggestions: It was suggested to create regional job markets for economists in those regions where it does not exists yet. Moreover, it was suggested to create a virtual job market for economists aimed to facilitate the function of it in developing regions. The President, as a summary of previous discussions, asked the council members to: Help promoting, organizing and financing IEA Roundtables in the following three years. Help convincing other national associations to become IEA members, as well as regional and field associations to become associate members. Help the IEA to find support from the national central banks. Promote the creation of RIDGE type centres in the developing world. For all these initiatives, the representatives were asked to contact the Secretary General.